


Appreciation

by bela013



Series: Fantine x Javert [2]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-09
Updated: 2013-03-09
Packaged: 2017-12-04 19:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/713973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bela013/pseuds/bela013
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fantine is yet to learn how to say thank you.</p><p>Follow up to 'Names'</p>
            </blockquote>





	Appreciation

As the end of her description of the man who attacked her, and the little facts about her daughter, that she would sneak into the conversation, came to an end, so did the Inspector's shift. So he ushered her outside, much in the same fashion that he brought her in.

Looking at her dirty nails, in search of a way to thank the Inspector, Fantine was grasping at straws in her mind when she remembered the only way she was taught to show how thankful she was. His hands were much bigger than hers, so she used both to grab onto his and guide it to her chest, above her fast beating heart.

It's with surprise that he looks into her eyes, silently asking what she was doing, but all he receives is a tight lipped smile. And if she was trying to show kindness with it, she failed specularly, for all that he could see, was a grimace of pain.

In his attempt to retrieve his hand, Javert tenses it, ending up on him cupping her breast, which it only made him more intent of pulling his hand back to his body. Shoving both hands into his coat pockets and looking pointedly at the floor, he misses the mild look of disappointment that fills Fantine's eyes.

"Don't do that", he barks up his complain, still shame faced and still staring at the floor. With practice, Fantine fix the smile back in her face.

'Silly old girl' thinking to herself, Fantine thinks she can see what would make the Inspector mad. 'Men don't like to be scolded by women', especially women like her. But the last part, is something she won't say, not even in her own mind. 'Or maybe, he was disappointed with her poor show of appreciation.'

After all, Inspector Javert went to all the trouble from keeping her committing a felony and from having to trow her in jail. The Inspector was a good man, and he deserved more.

And lamenting the fact that she was all that she could offer, she steps towards him. And standing as close was they were when he fought to hold her back, she has a good angle to look up, and into his face.

Pressing her body to his, she resist the small voice if her head, urging her to bury her face in his warm coat and chest, to smell him, steal his warmth. Arms around his rib cage, right in the space that he created with his hands in the coat pockets.

He was trapped, but not by her non existing strength. He was just trapped. Frozen in place, not knowing what to do with the woman that persisted on pressing herself to him.

On her tiptoes, she tries to reach his face, his lips, even his bearded cheek, but he was to tall for her. So she tips her head upwards, and place a chaste kiss where his head connects with the neck. She could feel his Adam's apple moving, so she drags her her mouth downwards, deposing a kiss at every movement of his Adam's apple.

Breathing through his mouth, the Inspector had his whole body shaking. This was not the type of reaction he expected from her, and after she placed his hand over her breast, he thought that would be it, that she would give up and walk her way. And now, he had this small woman attached to him, and they were practically in front of the police station, where anyone from inside the building could see them.

With that as his final push, Javert come to his senses and grabs Fantine by her shoulders, and letting her go once she was an arm away, in part for his need to distance themselves and in part because he feared that he would hurt her if she remained too close and he had to pry her away from him, again.

"You don't do this to me, woman" voice low and commanding, he did not want other people to hear this, but he sure wanted her to hear it and head his orders.

"And how else should I thank you, Inspector Javert?" it was the frantic tone of her voice that kept him from losing his patience. "I know... I know I am nothing much, that I am not pretty. I can not blame you for it" as her eyes were of a dull brown color the whole of the evening, unless when speaking of her daughter, now they shone with tears, giving them an air that any other man would call beautiful, but it just left the Inspector at loss. "I am just a sick woman. No hair. No teeth." Fantine stared right into his eyes, asking, begging, screaming for whatever she meant by that. "And you've done so much. Too much..."

Women just served to confuse him, be them young, or be them old. Javert would be glad not to have to interact with any of them. He learned to ignore them. It was just that, Fantine stood out among them. And it was not the lack of the hair or the teeth as she had just pointed out. She stood out because she was the first woman he has ever met, that fought for her progeny, so hard and for so long. Even this far away from it.

"You can just say 'Thank you'" and he didn't know if that was the right or the wrong thing to say, for the next thing he knew, she was hugging him again, her pointy forehead hitting on his chest, but she is crying, and he can't push her away.

So they just stand there, with him patting her back once the hiccups start. She felt cold, her arms were under his coat, much too intimate for his tastes, but as her temperature rose, he let her be. And actually, he only wished she would be able to stop before people started walking on the streets again. Or the sun came up. Whichever came first, actually.


End file.
